New Bedford's own Andrew Nelson, an antiquarian book seller and 1998 graduate of New Bedford High School won tonight's game of Jeopardy!

SouthCoast can tune in Wednesday, Jan. 8., to Channel 12 at 7:30 p.m. to see the returning champion defend his title.

Nelson is the son of Joyce and David Nelson; his father is a former Bristol County Sheriff and also served as a state representative and on the City Council.

Andrew joined his father in the antiquarian book business in 2005 and works at the family business, Chestnut Hill Books, on Summer Street in New Bedford. He was not immediately available after the airing of tonight's show.

After successfully answering a Daily Double for $4,000 in the second round, he tied for first place, and took the lead in Final Jeopardy. While he answered the question on the Titanic wrong, so did the other players. And he risked less than his challengers and came out with a tidy $12,000.

In his mid-round chat with host Alex Trebek, Nelson talked about growing up in Lizzie Borden's housemaid's house — a federal-style house connected to the Ash Street Jail, which he informed Trebek, is “oldest continuously-run jail in the United States.”

Lizzie Borden was a notorious former prisoner of the Ash Street Jail, constructed in 1828. Bridget Sullivan — Lizzie's housemaid — lived in the home connected to the jail during the late 1800s.

Andrew is the youngest of three children. There is a New Bedford High School scholarship in the name of his sister, Kathleen, who died of breast cancer at age 34 in 2005. All five Nelsons — parents and children— are New Bedford High School grads.

Jeopardy! is by no means Nelson's first adventure. Since graduating from Boston College in 2002, he has back-packed through 45 countries, jumped out of an airplane, and was a contestant on the ABC TV show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in 2009.